A terrible, terrible tragedy.

[ima_nerd]

It is interesting the different reactions people have to mass murderers versus serial killers. I am curious as to what set this guy off. I suspect it is another psychotic narcissist who felt entitled to something he didn't earn. Like an engineering degree, or an A in his speech class. I don't think it is a matter of treating people right. What is wrong in our society is that we no longer tell people that there are winners and losers, or how to win or lose. What we teach now is "You are all special, and are all winners." When the reality of the world slaps them hard and they discover that they are in fact a loser in a particular area, that is when they flip out and take their anger out on whomever and whatever they think did them the injustice of exposing their weakness.

While you're right about the "everyone's a winner" thing, I'm willing to bet this was a stress related breakdown.

As a student at Georgia Tech (sister school to Virginia Tech both in the ACC and through research collaborations), I can tell you the stress around this time of the semester is overwhelming. I remember my freshman year a girl killed herself with a sawed-off shot gun in her dorm room in the building right next to mine. I honestly think people who don't go to highly competitive tech schools will never understand the stress associated with the end of the semester. Every class is on a curve. You're always competing against your classmates. I get 50s on tests and am excited because the average is a 40. My professors are so consumed by research that teaching is a hobby.

Highly competitive school, finals coming up and he was Asian so he was probably taking 21 hours of engineering or math courses. That's enough to make anyone go off the deep end.